Review 2012 Mid-Season Review

[Scully2Folau]

Well we're just about at the halfway point of the inaugural season of the GIANTS and it's bye week, so what better time to take a look back at the first half!

Highlights?
Lowlights?
Standout players?
'Best 22' after 10 games?
Expectations vs. reality?
What are you looking for in the second half? Breakout players?
Thoughts for the future?

 

[Ichabod Noodle]

Highlights - breaking the banner that first night at ANZ - and of course the win against the Gold Coast.
Lowlights - The Norf and Brisbane games
Standout players - Ward, Cogs, Big Johnno Giles, Greene, Treloar and Cameron (and about a dozen others - see the best 22 below)
Expectations v Reality - Exceeded comfortably. We have been far more competitive (even with some of the big losses) that anyone thought.
The Second Half? - continued improvement - more hard contested footy
2nd Half Breakout Players - Sauce Phillips, Jonathan Patton, I still have hopes for Izzy to take a game by the scruff of the neck and I would be remiss if I didn't add my man Steve Clifton (if he can get over his injuries)
Thoughts for the future - Looking bright.
Best 22 - (of those who have played) Cornes Mohr Hombsh Power Davis Reid Bugg Scully Ward Giles Coniglio Shiel Greene Treloar Townsend Cameron Tyson McDonald Hampton Smith Kennedy Adams

 

[oozeboss]

Highlights: So many! The first game, where my determination to attend GWS games this year wearing another club's colours just plain evaporated. Joining the cheer squad. The Day the Giants Ate the Sun in Canberra. Skoda! Seeing Sheeds & Choco getting some long overdue deserved respect when so many in the AFL and media had denied them their just desserts. Seeing GWS play that other wonderful club of mine, & realising just how much I wanted the GIANTS to win it.

Lowlights: None. Seriously. We'll have games like Norfs & Brisbane in the second half as well, and I see those sort of experiences as being part and parcel of running an U21 team in a Big Man's League - an inevitable by-product of the development process. I can wear that, knowing full well that this phase will pass within a few years. Only thing that comes close to being a lowlight is seeing a lovely young bloke like Liam Sumner laid low for 8 weeks with a stress fracture of the foot (although resultant highlight is seeing up close how determined and committed he is to rehabbing right and returning asap to the bigs).

Standout Players: Psycho Ward, Rhys Palmer, Jezza Cameron & Bunny Coniglio on the paddock, although there are so many standouts that they don't stand out in the pack of standouts !?!

Sauce Phillips anywhere he goes and doing anything he does, simply because of height, flaming red hair & a GIANT dose of Character (he is definately the funniest bloke in the AFL!).

The AFL tastes far better with Sauce!

'Best 22' after 10 games: I started listing them, but gave up after I cruised past 30 with more to put in.

Expectations vs. Reality: Reality has Expectations pinned in the corner and is just plain pummelling it. I never expected to love orange & charcoal, or the name Giants. I do. I never expected to witness a bunch of raw young kids repeatedly display such endless courage, ambition and determination, nor to execute such disciplined structures. I have. I never thought to see an AFL senior coach come to a cheer squad banner making session in order to personally acknowledge the volunteers' endless hard yards. He did. I never anticipated that AFL players with six figure annual salaries would get down on hands and knees and help make the banners for them to run through three days later, or baby sit cheer squad members' kids and help them with their homework. They do. I never expected to learn that a cheer squad could comprise intelligent, articulate & balanced people, who would so quickly become my best mates. It does.

What am I looking for in the second half? More of the same, basically. I don't know or care if we win another, because our agenda extends way beyond this season. I am looking towards GWS becoming every other clubs' supporters' second favourite team, simply because of the attitude, intelligence, endeavour and humility of our players and coaches. I'm looking forward to at least 5 - 6 more Rising Stars, including some that will come clean out of left field for the rest of the AFL.

I am looking forward to western Sydney - all of the communities residing there - and Canberra taking this amazing club and these sensational young men to their hearts, and love them both for the excitement, the momentum, and the vision splendid of the glory they will eventually bring us all in this fantastic journey.

Finally, I'm looking forward to Eddie eating humble felafal when he accepts publicly what we're building here, and seeing the unparalleled excitement of GWS GIANTS' football.

Breakout players: Andrew "Sauce" Phillips, on the paddock and in the media (if the media has any smarts at all). Rhys Palmer, despite essentially being a modest bloke who prefers the limelight to shine on others. Liam Sumner, who will creep completely under everybody's radar after his dose of moonbootitis is over, and win the very last Rising Star nomination of this season (immediately before Cameron & Coniglio have the first ever tie for first at the actual NAB Rising Star award ceremony).

Thoughts for the future: "The future's so bright, that I gotta wear shades!"

 

[Canberra_Giant]

Highlights? Gold Coast!
Lowlights? Brisbane
Standout players? Coniglio, Ward, Cornes, Shiel, Greene, Giles, Cameron. Probably forgot some.
'Best 22' after 10 games?
Expectations vs. reality? Probably expected us to be a bit closer agaist teams like Brisbane and North. Other than that pretty close.
What are you looking for in the second half? Breakout players? I'd like to see Bruce get a regular game but with Patton coming back I don't think he will. Treloar is a player I think will have a big second half of the season.
Thoughts for the future? Look out 2014!

 

[zorro1836]

highlights ,1st win , want one in sydney now.
lowlights, norths game & injury to setanta o"
standouts in my opinion are sheil, bugg, treloar,giles,townsend & ward in no particular order.
best 22, to early
exp v real ,no great expectations so every thing is a bonus
2nd half ,stay competitive & win in sydney
thoughts, more members, 20000 at skoda & can't wait to see who we draft.

 

[AussieFTW]

Highlights - Victory against the Suns, singing the song, Cameron's 5-Goal bag.

Lowlights - The Brisbane game. Oh - not keeping Saad on our list, WTF was with that??

Standout players - Shiel, Bugg, Cameron, Davis.

Expectations v Reality - Did not expect us to have performed so well.. Yes there have been bad games, but to be level with the Cats at half-time at Kardinia, to be in the game against Carlton at 3Q time at Etihad, and having enough of the ball to have had more scoring shots than the Dons were amazing performances against teams that should go deep into September.

The Second Half? - Hopefully we'll see a second win, games against the Suns and Demons coming up..

2nd Half Breakout Players - Folau, hopefully.. He had been getting better, his strength in tackles and clean hands could make him incredibly handy in the forward line. Patton,, of course. Hampton and Miles also I maintain high hopes for.

Thoughts for the future -Definately want Sheedy's contract extended, and can't wait for the second half of the year!

 

[oozeboss]

Not taking Saad turned out to be a win-win for all parties in that trade (although that may become increasingly more evident as time goes by).

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but as part of a very convoluted sequence of trades starting with Saad to the Saints, didn't we wind up with pick #10: Liam Sumner (who I really rate as a player)?

 

[Mountain Giant]

Highlights?
First half against Swans. First game at Skoda. Heart and aggression.
Lowlights?
Brisbane game. First quarter against Eagles.
Standout players?
Coniglio, Smith, Greene, Mohr, Ward, Bugg
'Best 22' after 10 games?
Adams, Mohr, Power; Cornes, Davis, Bugg; Scully, Greene, Coniglio; Hampton, Cameron, Palmer; Smith, Folau, Treloar; Giles, Ward, Sheil; Tyson, Hombsch, McDonald, Reid
Expectations vs. reality?
As "good" as expected but they show heart and that is what you want.
What are you looking for in the second half? Breakout players?
Patton! Folau needs to develop more. He is probably better on the half forward line. Not aggressive enough for FF.
Thoughts for the future?
Hoping for some closer games. Want them to beat Suns again, win their first game at the MCG, beat Port Adelaide and push teams a bit more.